a Honolulu blog

The annual Honolulu Marathon is a huge attraction. The 35th annual was not exception. People came over from Japan, Ethiopia, Russia and all over the World to participate in this race. We even had a Danish prince! Some runners participate to see how well they do against the clock. Others just want to say they did it!

There are a lot of people who just don’t understand why anyone would want to put themselves through such an ordeal. Still others wouldn’t miss it for anything!

It was raining early in the morning but it cleared up as the morning wore on. It was still overcast and void of our beloved trade winds, but it was still a beautiful morning. — hot and muggy but still beautiful.

For those who don’t get it and think that an event this physically extreme is just plain dumb, tell that to the 27,000 people who signed up for this event and the 20,000+ residents and visitors who lined up at Ala Moana at 5:00 a.m. this morning! As I said to my mother, who thinks it’s dumb, I guess you have to be a runner to understand what drives people.

I was stuck in traffic. While waiting for the officers from our Honolulu Police Department to switch directions and let our side of the traffic go next, I watched the participants who, by about 11:30, were mostly walkers. I couldn’t help but feel a longing and wished I was one of them. Yeah, I’m one of those weird people.

I called my husband and asked him if he wanted to participate with me next year. He hung up. Yeah, he thinks it’s crazy. He thought my participation in a half marathon was crazy too.

Well, it’s certainly not easy. By 2:45 in the afternoon, there were still participants finishing up. There were water stations and first-aid stations throughout the route so participants were not without available support.

Some people, however, don’t seem to need too much support. The first finisher was Ambesse Tolossa from Ethiopia who won with a time that was just a few seconds over two hours and seventeen minutes. I could never do that! The first female finisher was Alevitna Biktimirov from Russia with a time of two hours and 33 minutes… that’s 26.2 miles in less than three hours! Amazing!

It would probably take me nine or ten hours to complete! I am yet to try a marathon. I’m still wondering how to deal with a half marathon, since I didn’t do very well with my first attempt. But, I’ll get it in time. Congratulations to everyone who crossed that line! That’s quite an accomplishment! The last person to cross that line did so at 7:54 PM. Congratulations to that finisher for their perseverance, you did it!